Abstract
The authors discuss a collective art project, initiated by them during the time of the first COVID-19 shutdown in Europe in late spring 2020. With 58 participants contributing short texts in combination with an image, the collection reflects the specific responses to the new situation. This article investigates the state of the project after its publication by a German online cultural magazine (CulturMag). A fusion of the authors’ expertise, ranging from psychoanalytic theory to literary and performative experimentation, undertakes a tentative deciphering of what lies unrecognised and virulent amidst and in between verbal and visual elements. Reflections on the uncanny, "das Unheimliche" (Sigmund Freud) – as well as "l’extimité" (Jacques Lacan) – connect paradoxical psychic (non-, mis-, over- etc.) representation of the COVID-19 danger with all too well un/known experiences of ongoing states of emergency – touching on their ecological, economical, ideological aspects, tiptoeing perhaps on the windblown tracks of childhood fears? In this way the authors asked the participants, most of them artists and writers, to submit to us something of their lives in the NOW – “no analysis, no commentaries. We've got enough of those. We want to know what is going on inside your rabbit holes" (Helbling/Reiche, 2020) – in order to find 'unspeakable references’ with precision and in abundance.
Highlights
The texts published in this journal are – unless otherwise indicated – covered by the Creative Commons Spain Attribution 4.0 International license
We want to know what is going on inside your rabbit holes.” (Helbling/Reiche,2020) What trick did we have in mind? A bet not against but with the unspeakable reference to that, as knowledge, which “does not know itself”?11 (In other words – other-wordly: “What happens when our usual equations suddenly lead to completely unexpected results?” Feucht, 2020)
(So, what happens when the place of the analyst remains empty?) The result is a flood of scientific papers on the current COVID-19 virus: Which means that even if any of them contain viable theses and suggestions, and surely some do, the sheer quantity of reading matter can all but guarantee that anything useful or world-saving will be missed
Summary
The texts published in this journal are – unless otherwise indicated – covered by the Creative Commons Spain Attribution 4.0 International license. We want to know what is going on inside your rabbit holes.” (Helbling/Reiche, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
